Designing a task based ESP syllabus for the second year students of accounting at tuyen quang economic and technical secondary school

1 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ***************** NGUYỄN THỊ LÝ DESIGNING A TASK-BASED ESP SYLLABUS FOR THE SECONDYEAR STUDENTS OF ACCOUNTING AT TUYEN QUANG ECONOMIC AND TECHNICAL SECONDARY SCHOOL THIẾT KẾ CHƯƠNG TRÌNH TIẾNG ANH CHUYÊN NGÀNH THEO NHIỆM VỤ CHO HỌC SINH NĂM THỨ HAI CHUYÊN NGÀNH KẾ TOÁN TRƯỜNG TRUNG HỌC KINH TẾ KỸ THUẬT TUYÊN QUANG M.A MINOR THESIS Field: English Teaching methodology Code: 60 14 10 HANOI – 2011 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ***************** NGUYỄN THỊ LÝ DESIGNING A TASK-BASED ESP SYLLABUS FOR THE SECONDYEAR STUDENTS OF ACCOUNTING AT TUYEN QUANG ECONOMIC AND TECHNICAL SECONDARY SCHOOL THIẾT KẾ CHƯƠNG TRÌNH TIẾNG ANH CHUYÊN NGÀNH THEO NHIỆM VỤ CHO HỌC SINH NĂM THỨ HAI CHUYÊN NGÀNH KẾ TOÁN TRƯỜNG TRUNG HỌC KINH TẾ KỸ THUẬT TUYÊN QUANG M.A MINOR THESIS Field: English Teaching Mehodology Code: 60 14 10 SUPERVISOR: LÊ VĂN CANH, Ph.D HANOI – 2011 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ESP: English for Specific Purposes GE: General English TQETSS: Tuyen Quang Economic and Technical Secondary School ESS: English for the Social Sciences EST: English for the Science and Technology EAP: English for Academic Purposes EOP: English for Occupational Purposes TBLT: Task- Based Language Teaching LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES Figure 1: Bases for language syllabus design Table 1: Students‟ reasons for learning English Table 2: Students‟ opinions on prospective job and workplace Table 3: Students‟ anticipated possibilities to use English at work in the future Table Ex-students‟ situations of using English at work Table 5: Students‟ opinions on tasks which should be included in the course book Table Ex-students‟ opinions on tasks which should be included in the course book Table 7: Students‟ evaluation of the current ESP course book Table 8: The proposed syllabus for the second-year students of Accounting at TQETSS (see Appendix 1) TABLE OF CONTENTS Declaration i Acknowledgement ii Abstract iii List of abbreviations iv Lists of figures and tables v Table of contents vi PART A: INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale Aims and objectives of the study Research questions Scope of the study Method of the study Structure of the study Summary PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Definition of ESP 1.2 Types of ESP 1.3 Syllabus Design 1.3.1 Definitions of syllabus 1.3.2 Approaches to ESP Language Syllabus Design 1.3.2.1 Language- centred approach 1.3.2.2 Skills- centred approach 1.3.2.3 Learning- centred approach 1.3.3 Types of syllabus 1.3.3.1 Structural /grammatical syllabus 1.3.3.2 Situational syllabus 1.3.3.3 Functional Notional syllabus 1.3.3.4 Topic-based syllabus 10 1.3.3.5 Skills-based syllabus 10 1.3.3.6 Process syllabus 10 1.3.4 Task-based Syllabus 11 1.3.4.1 Definition of „task” 11 1.3.4.2 Task-based syllabus 12 1.3.4.3 Characteristics of Task-based Syllabus 1.3.4.3 Theoretical Advantages of Task-based Syllabus 12 13 1.2.4.4 Limitations of Task-based Syllabus 14 1.3.5 Rationale of choosing Task-based Syllabus 15 1.3.6 Needs analysis in syllabus design 16 1.3.6.1.The important of needs analysis 16 1.3.6.2.Target needs and learning needs 16 1.4 Summary 17 CHAPTER 2: NEEDS ANALYSIS OF STUDENTS OF ACCOUNTING AT 18 TUYEN QUANG ECONOMIC AND TECHNICAL SECONDARY SCHOOL 2.1 The teaching and learning ESP at TQETSS 18 2.2 The students 18 2.3 The teachers 19 2.4 The study 19 2.4.1 The subjects 19 2.4.2 Instruments for collecting data 19 2.4.3 Data analysis and major findings 20 2.4.3.1 Data from survey questionnaires 2.4.3.2 Results from the interviews with ESP teachers 2.2.4.3 Major findings 20 30 32 2.5 Summary 33 CHAPTER 3: THE PROPOSED SYLLABUS CONTENT FOR THE SECOND- 34 YEAR STUDENTS OF ACCOUNTING AT TQETSS 3.1 Aims and objectives of the syllabus 34 3.2 Type of syllabus 34 3.3 Tasks in the syllabus 34 3.4 The proposed syllabus 35 10 3.4.1 Time schedule 35 3.4.2 The organization of the syllabus 35 3.5 Teaching and assessment methodology 35 3.5.1 Teaching methodology 35 3.5.2 Assessment methodology 36 3.6 Syllabus evaluation 36 3.7 Summary 37 PART C: CONCLUSION 38 Conclusion 38 Limitations and suggestions for further study 39 References 40 Appendices I Appendix 1: The proposed syllabus for the second-year students of accounting at I TQETSS Appendix 2: A sample unit V Appendix 3: Questionnaire for students XI Appendix 4: Questionnaire for ex-students XIV Appendix : Questions for interviews with ESP teachers XVI Appendix : Transcript for interviews with ESP teachers XVII 11 PART A: INTRODUCTION Rationale Nowadays, with the development of Science and Technology and integration and globalization of the world economy, the demand for English in general and English for Specific Purposes (ESP) in particular is increasing ESP has become an insensible branch in English language teaching in Vietnam to meet the growing demand for professional communication and the job market in the period of international economic integration At Tuyen Quang Economic and Technical Secondary School, English is a compulsory subject which are being taught to all students of all majors It consists of two parts: General English (GE) and English for Specific Purposes (ESP) According to the training curriculum, the ESP course is to be delivered after students finish GE course However, teaching ESP has encountered a number of problems such as inappropriate materials, content burden, lack of experience ESP teachers The most concern of ESP teachers is the course books The current ESP course book for students of accounting is compiled by the teachers of English section After few years of implementing, it has revealed a number of limitations in terms of content and methodology This is because the materials are based on the syllabus which was developed without reference to learner needs This gives rise to the need of developing a syllabus which is task-based and learnercentred And this is the motivation of this study Aims and objectives of the study The study aims at designing a task-based ESP syllabus for the second-year students of accounting at Tuyen Quang Economic and Technical Secondary School To achieve this aim, the major objectives of the study are: - to identify the rationale for a task-based syllabus design - to identify the learning needs of the second-year students of accounting through a needs analysis - to develop a task-based ESP syllabus which based on the learners‟ needs at Tuyen Quang Economic and Technical Secondary School Research questions With the aim stated above, the author proposed the three following questions for the study: 12 What are the undergraduate students‟ perceived needs of ESP? To what extent are the students‟ perceived needs different from those of the teachers and ex-students? How are the needs of all stakeholders transferred into tasks which are integrated in an ESP syllabus? Scope of the study In this thesis, the author only focuses on designing a task-based ESP syllabus for the second- year students majoring in Business accounting at TQETSS Method of the study In order to achieve the aim mentioned above, two survey questionnaires for undergraduate students and ex-students who were working as accountants in different companies were used as one of the tools to collect information about the students' needs as well as to identify tasks which should be included in the syllabus for the second-year students of accounting Also, informal interviews with ESP teachers were conducted in order to know about their opinions of tasks to be included in the syllabus and their experience in doing needs analysis Thus, both quantitative and qualitative methods were employed in this study Structure of the study The study is divided into three parts:  Part A is the introduction including the rationale, the aims, the research questions, the scope, the method and the structure of the study  Part B is the development that consists of chapters: - Chapter is about literature review of ESP and syllabus design - Chapter presents situational analysis of ESP teaching and learning at TQETSS and gives descriptions of subjects of the study, instruments for data collection and analysis of the results from two questionnaires and interviews - Chapter proposes an ESP task-based syllabus for the second- year students of accounting at TQETSS with the methodology of teaching and assessment and syllabus evaluation  Part C is the conclusion that consists of concluding ideas, limitations and suggestions for further study 13 Summary This part presents the rationale of designing a task-based syllabus for the second-year students of accounting at Tuyen Quang Economic and Technical secondary school Also, the aims, the research questions, the scope, the methodology and the structure of the study are presented The Literature review, Needs analysis and the Proposed syllabus will be presented in the part B below 62 Appendix 3: PHIẾU HỎI Ý KIẾN (QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS) Những câu hỏi nhằm mục đích thu thập ý kiến đóng góp học sinh học xong Tiếng Anh chuyên ngành Kế toán trường Trung học Kinh tế Kỹ thuật Tuyên Quang để xây dựng chương trình Tiếng Anh chuyên ngành phù hợp với mục đích đào tạo nhà trường đáp ứng nhu cầu học sinh chuyên ngành Kế tốn Những câu hỏi nhằm mục đích thu thập liệu cho nghiên cứu, không nhằm mục đích khác Những ý kiến đóng góp bạn cần thiết quan trọng cho nghiên cứu Xin trả lời câu hỏi sau cách trung thực Tôi xin chân thành cảm ơn hợp tác bạn Hãy đánh dấu √ vào ô mà bạn lựa chọn ghi chi tiết câu trả lời dòng .dưới Bạn học Tiếng Anh bao lâu? 1- năm Bạn cho biết lý bạn học Tiếng Anh ? Bạn giao tiếp với người nước ngồi chưa? có Nếu có, bạn cảm thấy giao tiếp? bạn gặp khó khăn giao tiếp với người nước ngoài? Công việc bạn làm sau tốt nghiệp? bạn dự định làm việc đâu? 63 Bạn có nghĩ bạn cần sử dụng tiếng Anh công việc tương lai bạn khơng? có Nếu có, cho ví dụ số tình bạn cần sử dụng Tiếng Anh cơng việc bạn Ví dụ: Giúp khách hàng nước mở tài khoản ngân hàng (Xin liệt kê rõ số tình huống) Nếu không, không? Tưởng tượng bạn viết giáo trình Tiếng Anh chuyên ngành cho học sinh năm thứ ngành Kế toán Những nhiệm vụ cần có giáo trình Tiếng Anh chuyên ngành Kế toán mà bạn cho cần thiết để học sinh sử dụng Tiếng Anh công việc sau này? Tại bạn cho nhiệm vụ cần thiết? Ví dụ : nhiệm vụ giúp khách hàng nước mở tài khoản ngân hàng (Xin liệt kê rõ nhiệm vụ vào bảng đây) 64 Bạn nghĩ giáo trình Tiếng Anh chun ngành Kế tốn mà bạn học? tốt Nếu bạn nghĩ tương đối tốt chưa tốt, đưa lý do: 65 Appendix 4: PHIẾU HỎI Ý KIẾN (QUESTIONNAIRE FOR EX-STUDENTS) Những câu hỏi nhằm mục đích thu thập ý kiến đóng góp học sinh tốt nghiệp chuyên ngành Kế toán doanh nghiệp trường Trung học Kinh tế Kỹ thuật Tuyên Quang nhân viên kế tốn để xây dựng chương trình Tiếng Anh chuyên ngành Kế toán phù hợp với mục đích đào tạo nhà trường đáp ứng nhu cầu học sinh chuyên ngành kế toán Những câu hỏi nhằm mục đích thu thập liệu cho nghiên cứu, khơng nhằm mục đích khác Những ý kiến đóng góp bạn cần thiết quan trọng cho nghiên cứu Xin trả lời câu hỏi sau cách trung thực Tôi xin chân thành cảm ơn hợp tác bạn Hãy đánh dấu √ vào ô mà bạn lựa chọn ghi chi tiết câu trả lời dòng Bạn tốt nghiệp trường Trung học Kinh tế kĩ thuật tuyên Quang cách ? Bạn làm việc rồi? Bạn có sử dụng Tiếng Anh công việc bạn không? Nếu có cho số ví dụ Theo bạn, nhiệm vụ cần có giáo trình Tiếng Anh chuyên ngành Kế toán mà bạn cho cần thiết cho học sinh chuyên ngành Kế toán để học sinh sử dụng Tiếng Anh cơng việc sau này? Xin liệt kê rõ nhiệm vụ 66 Hãy nghĩ lại khoá học Tiếng Anh chuyên ngành Kế toán mà bạn học truờng Trung học Kinh tế Kĩ thuật Tun Quang Bạn có nhớ khố học khơng? có Nếu có, khố học Tiếng Anh chun ngành có hữu ích với bạn? 67 Appendix 5: QUESTIONS FOR INTERVIEWS WITH ESP TEACHERS The purpose of this interview is to collect the ideas and opinions of the English teachers who are teaching ESP to students of accounting at TQETSS to design an ESP task-based syllabus for the second- year students of accounting at TQETSS Your answers will be of great significance to my study Thank you for your cooperation How old are you? How many years have you been teaching English? Imagine you are writing an ESP course book for the nd students of Accounting What tasks or activities should be included in an ESP course book that you think they are necessary for students of accounting in order to students can use English in their future job? Please give a list Why you think these tasks or activities will be necessary for them? How you know that they will be necessary? Have you ever been involved in designing an ESP syllabus or writing an ESP course book? Have you ever done students‟ needs analysis in your job? If yes, when? What problems did you have in analysing students‟ needs? If no, how could you develop the syllabus? One of the things that we most in developing or designing an ESP syllabus is needs analysis Do you think the teachers can analyse the learners‟ needs in designing an ESP syllabus? why? What challenges you think an ESP syllabus designer will have in analysing the learners‟ needs? 68 Appendix 6: TRANSCRIPT FOR INTERVIEWS WITH ESP TEACHERS The purpose of this interview is to collect the ideas and opinions of the English teachers (who are teaching ESP to students of Accounting at TQETSS) Your answers will be of great significance to the process of designing a task-based ESP syllabus for the nd students of Accounting Please respond to each question frankly Thank you for your cooperation Teacher 1: - Q (1) : How old are you? + - A: I‟m 31 years old Q (2) : How many years have you been teaching English? + A: I‟ve been teaching English for years - Q (3): Imagine you are writing an ESP course book for the nd students of Accounting What tasks or activities should be included in an ESP course book that you think they are necessary for students of accounting in order to students can use English in their future job? Please give a list +A: Every year we attract the large number of accounting students because we have good professional teachers, so our group must update the new knowledge to put into lessons as appropriate Now we are teaching an ESP course book for students of accounting which has been compiled since 2005 Looking ahead, if it‟s possible, we will research to write a new syllabus content expertise with more observations For example, we should take some of the tasks normally done by an accountant, namely: + The first is to make the vouchers + The second is the activities in inventory + The third is the opening of accounts + The fourth is the set of financial statements into the teaching syllabus of accounting English - Q: Why you think these tasks or activities will be necessary for them? How you know that they will be necessary? 69 +A: Through some discussions with the subject teachers I know the aim of accounting training in school is that after graduation students can fulfill the duties of an accountant in any companies, businesses or even units of the State Generally after graduation students use the knowledge in the specific job well that they learned in school Moreover, in recent years, the State encourages the foreign groups, individuals who invest capital in Vietnam, so the number of companies, joint-venture enterprises with foreign companies are increasing quickly And our graduated students who have the opportunity to work in that often have problems at work, namely the use of English in their professional work So I think we should enter the contents of ESP to teach for the 2nd students more practical - Q (4): Have you ever been involved in designing an ESP syllabus or writing an ESP course book? + - A: Yes, I have Q: Have you ever done students’ needs analysis in your job? +A: No, I haven‟t -Q: so, how could you develop the syllabus? + A: As you see the course book that we are teaching for the students of accounting was written by ourself We developed it on the basis of our knowledge that we gained from reading the accounting course books Then we discussed with the subject teachers We didn‟t analyze the needs of the students So the content of the course book did not meet the work requirements after graduation Q (5): One of the things that we most in developing or designing an ESP syllabus is needs analysis Do you think the teachers can analyse the learners’ needs in designing an ESP syllabus? why? + A: To design an appropriate teaching syllabus, we must analyze the needs of learners and I think we can this Because when we analyze the needs of learners, the content that we include in the syllabus will be more practical And of course the effective learning in school and the application of using English at work will be raised the Q: What challenges you think an ESP syllabus designer will have in analysing learners’ needs? + A: I think that to analyze the needs of learners, the designer will have some following difficulties: First, it takes a lot of time, effort and money in conducting the 70 survey and interview to obtain the students‟ opinions Second, some of the students not cooperate But the most difficult thing is that the students can not imagine all the work they will after graduation, so their answers are not sufficient and sometimes inaccurate - Thank you so much Teacher 2: - Q (1) : How old are you? + - A: I am 30 years old Q (2) : How many years have you been teaching English? +A: I have been teaching English for years - Q (3): Imagine you are writing an ESP course book for the nd students of Accounting What tasks or activities should be included in an ESP course book that you think they are necessary for students of Accounting in order to students can use English in their future job? Give a list + A: As for me, tasks and activities should be included in an ESP course book are - Greeting partners, clients - Making dialogues in daily life, at work - Saying prices, simple words related to maths such as plus, minus - Remembering words related to accounting, auditing, banking, commerce - Writing, reading and understanding commercial letters, quotations, commercial contracts, invitation letters - Filling in forms such as request for fund transfers, paying-in slip, withdrawal slips.etc - Q: Why you think these tasks or activities will be necessary for them? How you know that they will be necessary? + A: Because students can meet foreign clients in their job so that they can at least greet and communicate with them Besides, students will work in intercultural companies, agencies or units, they may not directly work with foreigners but they at least talk with them simplest sentences As an accountant working in business firms, students need remember words related to their job because they may come across these words in their job, or read leaflets, articles, messages etc they have to equip themselves with a certain number of 71 vocabulary to understand what they read Students can have to prepare quotations, invitation, letters, and contracts… in their job; therefore, they have to build competence to formulate, prepare those documents Moreover, accounting related to many kinds of forms and invoices which might be written in English because of international businesses, so that students have to fill in many kinds of forms and invoices To fill those forms and invoices, they have to understand requirements, words displayed in those forms Teachers have to introduce them, guide them what to - Q (4): Have you ever been involved in designing an ESP syllabus or writing an ESP course book? +A: In fact, I have never designed an ESP syllabus as well as written an ESP course book However, to choose a course book to apply teaching to students of accounting at TQETSS, I at the school have thought about students‟ needs and analyze them I should remind you that, I have never developed an ESP course book, so the thought about students‟ need analysis is not official; the thought is only in my mind - Q: Have you ever done students’ needs analysis in your job? + A: No, I haven‟t As a teacher of ESP, particularly teaching English for students of accounting, although I have thought about students‟ needs, my thoughts have never been self-evaluated sufficient It is because that I have never been trained in accounting, I not know much what an accountant does in his/her job, what and who she/he deals with I merely know that, accounting relates to number of money, invoices, payment, settlement… but what are behind them I not know All of which limit my thoughts of students‟ need analysis Fortunately, I have a part-time job in a business company which is a tea exported enterprise I am an interpreter there and I deal with many commercial contracts, letters, quotations or for exporting I have dealt with invoices, documents… I have had good chances to meet and communicate with many foreigner clients and partners… I have experienced that what an enterprise does in their business I know some small things, not full works of a business firm accountant I hazily understand and know the needs of students of accounting; however, all of which help me so much in my job to analyze students‟ needs or explain students what will be able to happen in their practical job 72 -Q: So, how could you develop the syllabus? + A: I have made question to my colleagues who teach accounting at the school and received a lot of help and clearly explanations Therefore, I have an overview picture which is not very clear about the job of accounting to analyze my students‟ needs Although I have thought a lot and started to many things for needs analysis, it is very pity that I have never officially any researches about this It may be a good suggestion for a future scientific research Q (5): One of the things that we most in developing or designing an ESP syllabus is needs analysis Do you think the teachers can analyse the learners’ needs in designing an ESP syllabus? why? + A: To develop or design an ESP syllabus, need analysis is so important, because what will we design if we not know what learners need, what they in their job, or what their transactions are However, to analyze students‟ needs is another story, it is very difficult for teachers of English who not know, not have background knowledge, or are not trained or majored in those specialisms Most of the ESP teachers of English in Vietnam are in the same situation However, that situation can‟t be helped solving Teachers of English can researches to study students‟ needs, meet people in their job for interviews or survey conductions As a result of this, they will have a clear picture about the needed analyzing job In brief, teacher can analyze learners‟ needs in developing an ESP syllabus the Q: What challenges you think an ESP syllabus designer will have in analysing learners’ needs? +A: As discussed above, teachers may deal with many difficulties while analyzing learners‟ needs: - Insufficient background knowledge of the professional; -Time taking for consultant from teachers, engineers, students of accounting; Handling abilities of collected information, selection of information what should be in, what should be out; - Knowledge of English - Lack of references - Thank you so much 73 Teacher 3: - Q (1) : How old are you? +A: I‟m 40 years old - Q (2) : How many years have you been teaching English? + A: I‟ve been teaching English for 16 years - Q (3): Imagine you are writing an ESP course book for the nd students of Accounting What tasks or activities should be included in an ESP course book that you think they are necessary for students of Accounting in order to students can use English in their future job? Give a list +A: I think some tasks or activities should be included in an ESP course book for students of accounting are making financial statements, writing commercial letters and commercial contracts, entering journals, ledgers and posting closing entries - Q: Why you think these tasks or activities will be necessary for them? How you know that they will be necessary? +A: because these are some of the main tasks of an accountant in a business firm Especially in the integration of the world economy, many foreign companies have invested operations in Vietnam The needs for using English at work are increasing more and more Accountants need to know English to communicate to foreign partners and customers, to inform accounting job to foreign employers - Q (4): Have you ever been involved in designing an ESP syllabus or writing an ESP course book? +A: Yes, I‟ve been involved in designing an ESP syllabus and compiling an ESP course book since 2005 - Q: Have you ever done students’ needs analysis in your job? + A: No, I haven‟t -Q: so, how could you develop the syllabus? +A: When I designed an ESP syllabus and compiled an ESP casebook for students of accounting, I only consulted many accounting books and asked subject teachers in order to design an ESP syllabus and compile an ESP course book 74 - Q (5): One of the things that we most in developing or designing an ESP syllabus is needs analysis Do you think the teachers can analyse the learners’ needs in designing an ESP syllabus? why? +A: In my opinion, in order to design an appropriate syllabus for students and understand what students need, we should conduct students‟ needs analysis And I think that teachers can analyse the learners‟ needs in designing an ESP syllabus However, the analysis of students‟ needs are limited because most of English teachers are not trained in specialized fields and not have enough background knowledge in specialism the Q: What challenges you think an ESP syllabus designer will have in analysing learners’ needs? +A: In designing an ESP syllabus, as for me, the designer will have the following challenges: the first is he or she is lack of background knowledge in specialism that students are learning so it is difficult for him/her to consider what should be in and what should be out, the second is it takes time to consult from teachers and students and the third is dealing with information supplied from students who haven‟t graduated yet and they not have practical knowledge, so their opinions sometimes are not adequate - Thank you very much ... aims at designing a task- based ESP syllabus for the second- year students of accounting at Tuyen Quang Economic and Technical Secondary School To achieve this aim, the major objectives of the study... 1.3.4.2 Task- based syllabus 12 1.3.4.3 Characteristics of Task- based Syllabus 1.3.4.3 Theoretical Advantages of Task- based Syllabus 12 13 1.2.4.4 Limitations of Task- based Syllabus 14 1.3.5 Rationale... understand the task and what they are doing, and not act in a mechanical way” Task- based teaching differs from situation- based teaching in that while situational teaching has the goal of teaching